Have A Little Faith
by Vahkhiin
Summary: The chance is all he clings too and sitting here now with his head in his hands and her sleeping away all that shit still gives him purpose and reason for everything he has done.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **So in my entire career of fanfiction-ing I've always promised myself to never have two multi-chapter fics up and running at the same time. But after that MSF I just couldn't help myself but come up with this brilliant plot idea where Beth actually survives. So here's the beginning of my next multi-fic contribution to the Bethyl fanfiction universe.

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><p><em>"When the road gets dark <em>  
><em>And you can no longer see <em>  
><em>Just let my love throw a spark <em>  
><em>And have a little faith in<em> me"  
><em>- Have a Little Faith In Me by John Hiatt -<em>

He sits by her bedside and he never leaves it; doesn't matter how many people tell him too and doesn't matter how many times they ask him too either. He sits there because that's where he wants to be and that's where he needs to be right now. It may be silly and it may be stupid and he knows he really doesn't have too. But there's something about her now; something about her since that day in that cabin, the one they burned down together. There's something about her that keeps him here.

He knows she won't let him owe her anything so instead he decides that he'll follow her to the end. He'll sit here until he dies and he'll never leave her alone. The others might think that he's gone crazy and that he's finally gone off the deep end too. They might start to wonder why he's doing this and of all people, why her. But he doesn't have an answer and maybe he never will.

The thing is that he feels a pull and a tug and something much greater and right when he is beside her. Maybe it's because it was ultimately him that led to her daddy dying and maybe this is his way of making amends; of setting the record straight and doing the right thing by her. It couldn't just be that though or at least he doesn't think so. She wouldn't want him too. He thinks instead to try and make sense of what he sees in her and in her eyes when he listened to her sing and play that piano. Everything between them felt so different. He couldn't say why he liked holding her hand or why he felt that talking to her and listening to her was so easy and simple to do.

But he knew that he felt his heart crack into two when Dawn's gun went off and when the bullet shot out of the top of her head. He knew the feeling of dread and shock and grief and disbelief all rolled into one and blanket over him the instant he saw her fall to the ground. He doesn't even remember shooting Dawn or when exactly he grabbed the gun from his belt and aimed and pulled the trigger. But from now on if anybody were to ever ask him who he has killed and why, he would think of that moment. He would remember exactly who and he will know exactly why.

And so maybe she'll die tomorrow or maybe she'll die five minutes from now, he doesn't know, but he's going to be here anyway.

He sits there with his back to the window and facing the door of this room that had apparently been hers. There isn't much decoration around and most of it is plain and hospital like. But there's a little poster drawing with the words 'Get Well Soon' on the wall and its colourful and it's pretty and it's very like her. He presses the points of his elbows into his knees and he leans forward and hangs his head low and presses his fisted hands into either side of his temples.

He is tired. He is exhausted and he could sleep for days. But after everything he cannot sleep right now. He hasn't slept for a while but he doesn't think about that for now. He stares at the ground instead and as he listens to her breathe he thinks back and sees everything.

He sees himself walking out of Grady with her lifeless form in his arms. He sees himself crying and feeling everything he has never felt before taking over him. He sees Maggie falling to her knees; sees Glenn rushing to Maggie's side. He sees everyone staring and looking and sees the defeat in all of their eyes.

It was in that very moment that he had felt the full impact of her loss; the devastation and the part of his soul that she took with her. It was there that he began to realise just what she meant to him; that even in the little time he knew her she somehow grew to become such an integral part of his very being. That every inch of him hurt and not in the physical sense of pain but in the sort of way that he would forever feel. The kind of pain that would never go away and the kind of pain that will always remind him of his ultimate failure.

But somehow against all odds and everything he didn't believe in, her hand twitched. His first thought was that his mind was playing tricks on him; that it was him moving that made her hand move. But then she moved again very slightly and he felt that. He felt the warmth in her cheek that was pressing into the side of his neck. He felt her lips moving ever so slightly as if she were trying to mumble or swallow or whatever, he didn't know. He just knew that she was alive; that she was okay. That she didn't die, not yet.

The seconds and minutes and hours after that were a blur and he remembers a few parts of it. He remembers turning and running back into Grady; remembers briefly catching sight of Maggie looking at him through tears in question and in wonder. He remembered not caring if they followed behind him. He didn't care about why Maggie and Glenn and the rest of them were even there in the first place. He didn't care to wonder about Michonne or little ass kicker and Carl and that priest. Maybe that made him selfish and maybe that was wrong of him. But Beth's life hung on a thin thread and he knew it and could feel it with every step he took and right then, Beth was all he cared about.

He kicked the doors and they swung and those that were still there mopping up Dawn's lifeless remain saw him and saw her. He doesn't remember if he begged or if he asked. But before he knew it everyone was moving and clearing a way for him. Maybe they saw the look in his eyes and just knew that Beth was still here with them; that they all had to put aside their differences and just work together to do this.

The doctor worked fast and quickly and very efficiently and between it there was chaos and shouting and instructing and the direction of medicines and milligrams and injections. Rick was there a moment later and Maggie and Glenn and everybody else. There were people he knew and people he didn't but it didn't matter. None of it mattered except her, the doctor, the machines and the medicines.

He remembered thinking that these people had electricity. That Beth's chances were slowly spiking with every little discovery he made; from the medicines to the electricity and this doctor's wealth of medical knowledge. He never left her side and he did everything the doctor asked him to do. They worked together and he held her hand when the doctor drained the blood and he held her head when the doctor stitched it up. It wasn't entirely much and it most certainly didn't mean that she was definitely going to survive either. But it was enough for him to know that they tried.

The chance is all he clings too and that sitting here now with his head in his hands and her sleeping away all that shit still gives him purpose and reason for everything he has done.

He hasn't asked for much in life; didn't think praying was worth it or wishing for that matter. He was the kind of man that was so used to doing things and going by each day that everything else just sort of happened for him in between. But since sitting here for the entire day and night and until now he has prayed fifteen times. He has wished ten times and he still continues to hope.

He stares away the minutes and hours and sometimes he closes his eyes and let's himself drift for a few minutes. But right now he stares at the ground and he wishes again. The floor looks dirty and brown and he can't help but think that it could use a good mopping; maybe he'll do that later. He hears Maggie murmuring something soft and quiet to Glenn and he tries not to intrude. He gives them the privacy they need and he focuses instead on his shoes and her shoes that are sitting empty and neatly just under her bed.

He hears the shifting of clothes and chairs and Maggie and Glenn standing up. He doesn't move and continues to stare hard into the ground until he feels a soft warm hand on his shoulder.

"Get some rest, man," Glenn says softly to him.

"Yeah," he murmurs and hears the coarseness in his voice.

"Thank you," Maggie says softly to him a moment later and out of respect he lifts his head from his hands and he looks to the side and to Maggie.

Her eyes are still red and bloodshot and she looks like shit but he says nothing about that. He imagines he looks equally as shitty as well.

"I ain' done nothin' for y'to thank me for," he mutters.

"You didn't give up on her," Maggie says simply.

He watches them stumble away; watches as Glenn practically has to hold Maggie up as they walk together out the door. He watches until they disappear around the corner and into the dark hall and he finally lets his eyes fall back onto her.

He hears the doctor's words echoing in his head. The doctor had stood there in front of all of them and had told them very seriously that Beth surviving was a miracle. That people very rarely survived wounds like those. The doctor told them that she might not remember any of them; that her memories might altogether be altered forever. That she might only remember some of them but not the others; that she might not walk again or talk. That she might not know words from shapes of here and there. That she might be a completely different person to the person they all knew.

That there was still a chance that her brain could swell and that she could die from complications.

He accepted that though and really to him it didn't matter what happened, he was going to stay right here until the very end. He will be here if she wakes and stares at him and didn't know who he was. He will be here if she wakes and could never speak again or understand anything at all. He will be here if she wakes and could never walk. He will be here even if the worst happens and he will see through it because this is what he has to do. He will be her guard and he will be everything her daddy would've wanted him to be for her.

He doesn't know why or what or how but doing this and promising these things to her is like finally realising what his entire purpose in life has been for. It's like finally finding his home and never wanting to ever leave.

It's because of her that he learned how to put things away; how to put to rest those memories and to remember instead the new and better ones. It's because of her that he sees everything differently now. It's because of her that he prays, that he hopes and he wishes. It's because of her that he does these things; that he even has the patience to sit here and finally decide to talk to her because he remembered reading somewhere once that talking to patients helped them to recover faster.

"I put them away, Beth," he murmurs softly to her and looks to her face that's half bandaged.

He sees chunks of caked blood still in her hair and on the bandages. She looks so small and so frail and he never wants to see her like this again.

"Just like y'said," he says finally as he reaches for her hand.

She feels warm and right and real and right there with him and he isn't going to let go. His fingers are dirty and he could do with a good wash. But he isn't leaving her side right now; not for a second for anything. He leans back in his chair instead and he keeps watch over her and he keeps focus on the colour slowly returning to her cheeks. He focuses on the swelling that is slowly residing around her face. He hears the sounds of her steady heart beat filling the room and it sounds like music to his ears.

"I miss y'singin'," he continues to tell her, "'s better than a jukebox. But y'heart beat right now, tha's the best song I've ever heard y'make yet."

Nobody's there to listen to him and he is grateful for that. He isn't quite sure what he is doing and why he is even saying the things he has said. He wouldn't be able to explain himself right now but if someone walked in and if someone asked, the difference from the man he was to the man he is now is that he would try to answer.

But with night falling and the sounds of snores and soft conversations drifting through the door and to where he sits, he looks to her and he forgets about everything. He forgets about the walkers and the rest of the world. He looks to her and he feels all these things inside of him. His heart feels fuller than it ever has been and he feels hope now in a way he has never felt it overcome him before.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you for all of your lovely reviews for chapter 1 :)

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><p>"<em>It feels like I'm in heaven,<br>__When you are around,  
><em>_And it scares me a bit…"  
><em>_Iva by Maerin_

She's in a coma and the thought of it weighs him down. It scares him and everything about her now frightens him in all the ways he's never feared before. Losing her is the larger part of it but it's their unfinished conversation and words unspoken and the look that she gave him that night in that kitchen where it all really began for them. She has become his beacon of hope and of light and everything that men like him didn't believe in. She is it and always will be too.

He doesn't care how silly this makes him or whether his father is laughing down at him and his brother is calling him names. He has never felt like this for anybody before and he damn well isn't going to run away now.

He stays by her side through day and night and the week that they've been here. He only leaves for less than a minute and only when someone he trusts is with her. But he is always back a moment later and residing in that seat that has now been crowned, his. He stands sometimes when sitting too long starts to bother him. He'll lean the side of his shoulder against the frame of the window and he'll keep watch over her. He is always facing her and never away from her.

He holds her hand when nobody is there and sometimes when Glenn and Maggie are there; they understand, or at least he thinks that they do. He doesn't rightly care about what they think or what they suspect or the questions that Maggie probably has for him. She hasn't voiced any of them and lately he's noticed that she looks at him very differently these days. Maybe she appreciates his company and his devotion to keeping a strict watch over Beth. Or maybe she sees what he does not yet know and accepts what he is trying to understand.

He puts the matter aside though and doesn't think about it for now when the doctor gathers them all into Beth's room. He stays where he sits and Maggie is there too sitting across from him and holding Beth's unmoving hand like a vice grip and anchor. His hands curl around the bend of where the arm rests of his chair meet the air and he holds on and listens and does not care about everybody else in the room.

He directs his focus instead on the doctor and he regards the man and listens intently.

"She's been in an induced coma for the past week," the doctor starts and he feels his hand itching to curl around the handle of his crossbow.

He feels the instinct rising in him to shoot the guy dead in the head. But he isn't the same man he was a long time ago and the faith she has instilled in him holds him back and calms him down. He listens and keeps silent for now.

"The swelling around her wound seems to be subsiding and she seems to have more colour in her face which is a good indication that her body is responding and actively working to heal itself," the doctor continues and he digests every single word.

He still does not completely trust this doctor but he sees the honesty in the man's eyes and sees that Beth means something to this man too. He has yet to ask questions and to find out what happened in this place after they brought her here. He already knows the woman that Dawn was and he suspects that Beth saw this doctor and found him to be one of the few she could trust.

"I want to start reducing the medicine that is keeping her in this induced coma over the next two days," the doctor continues, "But I can't say for sure whether there are still parts of her brain that are swollen without an MRI."

The doctor's words weigh down on him and he wishes so much for every single generator in this world right now.

"Can't we keep her in the coma for another week just to be on the safe side?" Rick asks and he glances briefly at the man before looking back at the doctor.

"We could," the doctor answers, "But the longer we keep her in one the further complications there might be if her body starts to become accustom to the drug."

"You're saying she might become dependent on the drug and be stuck in the coma?" Abraham speaks up this time and he has to hand it to the soldier because he honestly didn't think the man would be talking in this situation at all.

"Yes," the doctor answers.

The silence blankets over them for a moment and he stares down at his hand before he looks back to the doctor.

"'n if we take her off it the next two days, then what?" he asks lowly.

"We wait and then slowly take her off each machine until her body starts functioning on its own," the doctor explains.

"'s not a guaranteed thing ain' it?" he mutters.

"No."

The doctor's response throws him even though he can't find fault in anything the doctor has spoken. He leans back further in his chair and looks to Beth and shifts and feels the point of his elbow pressing into the arm rest as he covers the side of his face with his hand. He holds his position and he keeps his eyes on her and he tries so hard to pull himself together. He tries not to let the rage and anger and desperation steer him and he tries to think clearly; tries to keep focus and tries to think this through properly. But just when he begins to feel himself bursting at the seams he hears the doctor speaking again.

"We don't have to decide this right now," the doctor says, "You can talk it over…"

He supposes Maggie or one of them must've motioned in agreement to the doctor's suggestion when he hears the man walking out of Beth's room a moment later. He hears the doctor pause though and he looks briefly and sees the doctor standing by the door and half turning in to look at them.

"Listen I'm…I'm really sorry," the doctor adds a moment later, "I wish there was more that I could promise you all."

"You've done all you could," Rick mutters, "And we know that."

The silence hangs heavily in the air after that and for the longest time he keeps his eyes on her and focuses entirely on her. They all seem to leave the room though after that and it isn't like he cares anyway because right now he just wants to sit here and stare at her. He just wants to remind himself that though the next few days are going to be difficult at least right now she is still here with him.

He knows Maggie is still here though; knows that Glenn is there too standing behind Maggie's chair and holding onto her shoulders. But they say nothing and he feels their eyes on him and he wants to look at them; wants to ask them and wants to believe that he'll agree with whatever Maggie suggests. But he can't even bring himself to think about either of the options and he's never felt so lost in his entire life before.

"What do y'want to do?" he asks lowly but keeps his eyes still on Beth.

It takes Maggie a while to respond and when she does he listens patiently, "I don't think this is my choice to make…anymore."

"Maggie…" Glenn murmurs just as he finally turns to look at Maggie instead.

"You were with her last, Daryl," Maggie tells him, "And I can see that she means something to you…"

He isn't sure what to make of her words so he reacts in the only way he knows how.

"Y'think y'daddy would'a left somethin' like this f'me t'decide?" he questions sharply and leans forward in his seat.

"If he thought it were right," Maggie tells him calmly.

Her calmness completely throws him and he knows he's over reacting. But the weight of all this desperation clouds his judgement and blinds him for now.

He stands abruptly and feels and hears the chair push back. He waves a dismissive hand at her and mutters, "This is on me…I get that," he takes a step back away from her bed and he continues, "Ain' nobody ever gonna make me think otherwise," he lowers his voice and continues, "But she's y'sister…Maggie…I-"

"Daryl, please-" Glenn tries to moderate but he isn't having any of it.

He swings a dismissive hand at the man and chokes, "Naw, y'can't…She ain' mine…I don't speak for her. Y'can't ask me to decide this," he shakes his head, "I don' have no business deciding this for her."

He realises that she's standing now and it's strange because he can't remember exactly when she stood up. But he levels his gaze with Maggie and something in her look changes and before he is able to say anything else she speaks.

"You've been the only one that never gave up on her," Maggie tells him and he glares, "I left for DC and the instant I did I gave up the thought of ever seeing her. I accepted it and I let her go…" Maggie pauses and he sees her look at him lowly and murmur, "But you never did."

He finds himself lost for words now and no matter how desperate and angry he feels he has nothing to say.

"I don't know what happened between the both of you after the prison and 'm not askin' y'to ever tell me either," Maggie continues and pauses and he finds himself lowering his head and glaring at her through his bangs now, "But whatever it was meant something to you…" she pauses again and he feels a lump in his throat, "And I know my sister…I know it meant something to her too."

"Y'don' know that," he mutters lowly before he even realises what he's admitting.

He looks away from Maggie and stares a hole into the ground.

"Yes I do," Maggie tells him simply, "The Daryl Dixon I knew at the prison is nothing like the man that's standing before me."

"Maggie's right," he hears Glenn say a moment later, "I noticed it more after we escaped Terminus. It's like you aren't afraid to hope anymore."

He thinks back to what Carol said to him; about him not being a child anymore but being a man now. All these words and all these declarations and emotions roots him to that spot. He doesn't know what to say or how to react or what to do. But then he thinks about Beth and as he does he looks to her and ignores Maggie and Glenn. He feels the pull of Beth's soul and her being and everything that scares him so much.

He realises now that he does feel different and that he doesn't quite look at things the same anymore. He could've followed through with Rick's plan and killed every single one of them in here to get her out. He could've easily let Risk shoot that cop dead. He could've hunted Noah down and killed the guy before even taking a moment to listen and find out that Noah was with Beth in Grady.

He sees it now and knows that he would've done all of this differently if it wasn't for her; for all the things she said to him and the way she reminded him that people like her could still make it. That she wasn't good as any of them and she wasn't a fighter but she was a survivor and that counted for something.

"It's okay to be afraid," Maggie tells him now and as she says every word it brings him right back to that cabin.

Those were the words Beth had said to him; the very moment when everything changed for him and for her. He can even feel her now holding him from behind and pressing her face into his back. He can hear the sound of the forest late into the night and her words echoing in his mind over and over again.

"_You gotta stay who you are, not who you were…"_

He takes a step towards her bed and though she lays there all quiet and sleeping and so far away from him, he feels as if he isn't alone anymore. He doesn't feel as lost as he did moments ago. She is still here with him and she will always be with him. She has become the voice in his head and nothing can ever take that away from him. The thought of that holds him together and with Maggie and Glenn standing there he reaches out to Beth and he slips a hand into hers. Her hand feels warm and smooth against his calloused hands; it feels like it did that day when they stood there and stared at the grave by that funeral house.

He trusts in her more than he ever has in another human being and he believes in her. Maybe he'll live to regret this one day but right now and looking down at her he knows what to do.

"We take her off the meds," he says softly, "Give her a better chance t'come out of this."

He looks to Maggie and he sees the woman nod; sees Glenn nod at him too.

"Okay…"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow I don't even know how I managed to find the time in between family to write this but I did and isn't as long as I would've like it to be. But I've left this one for too long now and I just couldn't help myself but quickly type this chapter up for you guys. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Day :)**

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><p>It's late and well into the night and everything is quiet save for the sounds of her heartbeat all around him. He leans there against the frame of the window in the shadow and just a step away from the moonlight. He watches over her and is aware of every footstep that echoes down the hall and any one that walks by. Nobody dares to enter her room at night though or at least if they do they all make it a point to knock softly.<p>

He knows he doesn't need to worry about that much; that he can trust in Michonne to keep an eye on all the doors she's watching when she's on night watch. He knows from Noah that all the bad ones are long gone and dead and that makes him feel a little bit better about keeping her here. But he still worries for her and maybe that's something that'll never go away no matter how safe an environment she is in.

Maybe her daddy would've been proud of him and maybe her daddy already is. He can't help but wonder what her old man would've done though. He wonders if Hershel would've let Beth be like this for as long as she hangs on or maybe Hershel would've just decided to take her off everything and let her slip away peacefully. He couldn't see the old man wanting his daughter to suffer but then again he couldn't Hershel ever denying Beth a chance either.

He wonders whether Hershel would've sat here with him; wonder if the older man would've seen something in him and just knew, just like Maggie, that something between him and Beth had changed. He still doesn't really understand it and he probably never will. But being here with her and keeping watch over her and knowing that his crossbow has taken up residence on the side of the table next to her bed makes him feel better.

The others don't look at him strangely anymore from the hallway when they walk pass or when they're gathered in there for a quiet discussion. They all seem to respect that he needs to be here beside her bed. Maybe Maggie said something to them or maybe Glenn or maybe even Rick. Or maybe they all just see what Maggie sees too. They've been here for two weeks already and he hasn't left her room so they've all had time to study him, he is sure.

He looks to the ground as he clears his mind and lets the echoes of her heartbeat bring calm to him. But he can't stray his gaze away from her for too long and a moment later he looks back to her. He sees the machine helping her breathe and sees the rise and fall of her chest. He knows that a lot of it is still on that machine that's keeping her breathing. But with every echo of her heartbeat there is still a chance that somewhere inside there in her mind she is still trying.

He decides to push himself from the window now and he takes a step and two before he slides into the seat and takes her soft hand in his rough and calloused ones. He lets his head hang for a while and he stares at her hand through his bangs.

"Don' even know if y'hear any of this," he starts softly and looks to her now.

He looks over the scars on her face and he breathes and brushes the back of her hand with his thumb.

"'m still here," he tells her, "Ain' gonna go nowhere…be here long as y'need me t'be."

He doesn't know what else to say to her after that and he keeps quiet again but still continues to look at her and hold her hand. He thinks back to that cabin though because that's where his mind always goes back to when everything is quiet. He always runs through their argument in his head and remembers every word he spat at her. He had been so wrong though and she'd seen straight through all of it.

"Been thinkin' a lot 'bout what I said," he starts again and looks to her hand.

He lets the echo of her heartbeat fill the room again for a few moments before he pulls himself together and continues.

"I was wrong," he continues, "Wrong t'say that I ain' 'fraid of nothin'."

He feels vulnerable all of a sudden because even though she is still in that coma he is sure she hears him somehow.

"'m 'fraid of many things," he admits softly, "'m 'fraid for Rick and for Carl, little ass kicker, Michonne, Carol, your sister, Glenn, everyone…" he tells her, "Been 'fraid since this all started."

He pauses to curl his fingers around hers.

"But I ain' been 'fraid like this before," he continues and pauses to breathe and to remind himself that she is still here with him.

That he isn't saying goodbye, that he will never say goodbye. That she still has a chance and that he's going to cling onto that with every fibre in his being.

"'m 'fraid cause of how I feel," he finally admits.

He feels strangely lighter and clearer after saying that to her.

"'n I don' understand it," he murmurs, "'n I don' know why 'm here."

He brushes the back of her hand with his thumb and continues to look at her.

"But there ain' nowhere else I need t'be," he tells her quietly, "So when y'ready, 'm gonna be here."

A long moment of silence and her heartbeat fills the room and he just stares at her until he hears a soft knock. He looks to the door to see Carol hovering there awkwardly as if she'd been there for a while already. The older woman looks at him knowingly and he begins to feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"Sorry," Carol says to him and he watches as the older woman steps into the room and closes the space between the door and Beth's bed, "Didn' mean to interrupt."

"Y'heard?" he asks directly.

"Muffled words," Carol tells him earnestly and he decides to let this one slide this time.

"'s nothin'," he mutters and looks back to Beth, "just tryin' t'let her know that we're here, y'know?"

"Yes," Carol murmurs and slides into the seat where Maggie usually sits, "I read somewhere a long time ago that talking to them helps."

He nods and lets the echoes of her heartbeat fill the room for now.

"Michonne's on watch tonight?" he asks softly a moment later.

"She is," Carol tells him, "I just couldn't sleep."

He hums and says nothing else. He looks back to Beth though and runs his thumb over the back of her hand again.

"She told me," Carol starts and he sees the woman looking at Beth now, "About where you guys went after the prison."

He keeps quiet and watches as Carol continues to look at Beth for a moment more before continuing.

"Said she managed to talk you into burning a cabin down," Carol tells him and he looks away and can't help but smirk at the memory.

"She tell you 'bout her wantin' t'find a drink?" he asks.

He sees Carol nod and listens as the woman continues, "Was nice of you t'do that for her."

"Ain' nothin' t'it," he murmurs lowly and glances briefly at Beth, "She wanted her first drink…'n I wasn' goin' t'let it be no damn Peach Schnapps."

Carol smiles warmly at him and he smirks at the thought of it. He lets the memories of that place blanket over him and he breathes a little easier now when he remembers sitting there late into the night with Beth and talking over things that he'd never spoken to anyone before. She was the only one that really knew him; the only one that knew who he really was.

There's a quiet silence that settles in the room now and all he thinks about is Beth. He can still see her eyes shining in the moonlight and smile lighting up his universe. He hears Carol shift though in that seat and he looks to the older woman.

"Y'know when we were out looking for Beth I kept trying to figure out what changed, what made you change," Carol starts, "I thought maybe when the prison fell and what you must have seen changed you…But then I woke up here and I saw Beth and she told me about everything that had happened when she was with you…" Carol pauses for a moment to smile at him, "And everytime she mentioned your name her eyes would light up…that's when I realised that she was the one that changed you."

He lets the silence hang there for a while as Carol merely stares at him. He shifts his gaze back to Beth though and stares at her for the longest time before he looks away and to his hand and to her smaller hand laying between his calloused ones.

"She just reminded me of who I am now 'n not who I was," he tells the older woman softly.

"You love her, don't you?"

He keeps completely still now and it takes him a moment before he turns to look at Carol. He sees the older woman looking knowingly at him and he has no idea what to say.

"It's okay," Carol continues a moment later, "She loves you too."

"She tell y'that?" he asks and the tone he uses throws him slightly. He has never spoken so softly and warmly before. And he isn't denying it which is strange for him. Maybe this is what he has been feeling all this time.

But Dixon's didn't do feelings? His brother always told him that it was pointless; that feelings only brought pain and devotion and all that kind of shit that men like him could never do.

"No," Carol says and that pulls him out of his thoughts for a moment, "But I could see it in her eyes."

"Maybe y'was just seein' things," he tells the woman.

He sees Carol shake her head at him and smile and murmur, "I know what I saw."

"Don' matter 'nyway," he mutters and looks to Beth, "She might not even remember me."

"'n what if all she remembers is you?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: ****I know... I know... I'm the slowest updater ever. But I blame Christmas and New Years and everything in between for slowing me down - and I also blame The Civil Wars. Ever since discovering them my mind has been flying off on different tangents and other Bethyl fic ideas (like the C'est La Vie, C'est La Mort story I published yesterday or today... depending on where you live).**

**Nevertheless, Happy New Years to all of you who are on the same side of the planet as me and an advanced Happy New Years to you all who are still waiting to cross that date line.**

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><p>He wonders a lot about what Carol said to him; wonders so much so that he hardly listens in on anything Rick has said in the minutes that have passed since they began this little meeting. Rick is supposedly giving them a run down on the latest update about Grady and the people here and what they've established so far. They're still hopelessly in debt to the doctor and Noah is still weary about the doctor's intentions.<p>

But he hasn't had a chance to really judge for himself; hasn't spent more than a few minutes at a time with the doctor. Maggie's always been in the room with him when the doctor came in. He never had a moment alone with the man to see for himself. He keeps the thought in mind though for the next chance he gets and he ponders instead on Carol's words for now as Rick rambles on.

What if he really is the only thing Beth remembers? Maybe somehow by some kind of dumb sheer strange luck she wakes up and forgets everyone but only remembers him. He wouldn't really know what to do or what to say or how to act upon the whole thing. But the point is that he would be willing to try and that thought in itself reminds him of the man he really has become now.

He feels proud all of a sudden and he shifts in his chair to sit a little straighter too. He catches Maggie's gaze from across Beth's bed and the woman looks at him curiously. He knows Maggie worries about him; knows because Glenn keeps him up to date on that kind of shit when Maggie's busy getting them food. He knows everyone in their own sort of way worries about him too. He really is okay and fine and maybe he isn't feeling great because Beth's still in a coma and there's still a breathing tube in her throat. But he feels better with each echo of her heartbeat. He breathes easier and is calm and here and quite ready to spend the rest of his life sitting here waiting for her.

"So we make for Richmond once she wakes up and once she's ready?" Abraham asks and the soldier's words pull him back to the conversation happening around him.

He looks to the man standing near the door with arms crossed, legs apart and looking every bit the picture of the military. He didn't expect Abraham to be so positive about Beth's condition. He expected the man to be more dismissive about the whole thing.

"That's the greater plan of it, yes," Rick mutters.

"But what if she doesn't wake up?" Carl asks ever so softly and if it had been anybody else he might've stood and punched the person out square. But he keeps calm and continues to brush the back of her soft hand with his thumb as he turns to look over at Carl who is standing a step or two just behind Maggie's seat.

The kid looks wearily at him and he just stares through his bangs and listens patiently for Rick to respond. The room is silent though for a full moment and he feels all of their eyes bearing down on him.

"I ain' askin' any of y'to stay," he murmurs lowly and turns to look to Maggie, "Go if y'all want…'s fine with me…'m goin' t'stay cause I ain' goin' nowhere without her…" he drops his gaze to her hand, "Not again."

He feels as if he's hung himself out to dry and though there are so many reasons for him to want to run away he finds that he cannot because this is where Beth is. She keeps him here above all and even when he feels the most uncomfortable he has felt in the longest time. He stares at her hand instead and draws on the echoes of her heartbeat to keep him steady. He still feels all of their eyes on him and there is nothing else for him to say so he just listens.

"We stay here for as long as she needs," Rick speaks up a moment later and he finds himself looking up to the man that's standing a step or two away from Abraham. He sees Rick looking at Carl and he listens as the man continues, "Grady is well fortified and we have an understanding of sorts with Shepherd and her people."

"Maybe we should take up the position of gathering supplies for this place," Rositia suggests and he considers that as the woman continues, "That way at least we have a control over something important to them."

"Supply and demand," Michonne agrees.

"That could work," Abraham mutter.

"I'm in," Sasha speaks up and Tyrese agrees alongside her.

"Me too," Carol says just as he looks to Maggie.

He sees Glenn take a step toward the back of Maggie's chair and he sees the man sliding hands over Maggie's shoulders.

"We're in too," Glenn says and briefly looks to him and nods.

"Carl?" Rick murmurs and he takes that moment to look at the kid again.

The kid still looks wearily at him but shifts and looks to Rick a moment later. "I'm in."

There's something that passes between Rick and the kid and he doesn't bother to look because that isn't any of his business. He respects Carl well enough and understands that Carl is only concerned for Beth too.

"That's decided then, I'll speak to Shepherd," Rick speaks up again and not too long later they're all filing out the room.

Maggie stays though and Glenn too. He sits there quietly still with his calloused hands around her soft one.

"I'll get us some dinner," Glenn announces a short while later and he briefly looks to the man and nods before looking back at Beth.

Maggie says nothing for the longest time even after Glenn leaves but he wants to know and he wants to ask what she thinks about Beth's condition; wants to know if she doubts her sister will ever wake up too. But talking isn't his thing and he doesn't know how to phrase it or how to even approach it. But he draws in a breath anyway and he looks to Maggie and keeps focus on the warmth he feels in Beth's hand.

"You really mean that, Daryl?" Maggie asks and it momentarily throws him because he isn't exactly sure what she means.

"Mean what?" he asks softly.

"That you'll stay with her," Maggie answers and he sees a look in the woman's eyes that has him feeling as if Hershel himself is right there.

He keeps quiet and lowers his gaze to Beth's soft hand in his and he looks at it for the longest time. He still doesn't understand most of this but he's starting to think that Carol is right; that maybe this is love. That maybe he was capable of loving another person. Maybe that's why it was so easy for him to tell them all that he will stay even if they all decide to leave now.

He glances at Maggie through his bangs and he murmurs softly, "No place else I need t'be."

His answer seems to please Maggie from the way he sees her nod and look away from him to Beth. It takes him a moment more before he turns to look at Beth too.

"I think daddy will rest easy now…" Maggie murmurs a moment later.

He turns to slowly look at Maggie and when he does he sees the woman turn to look at him too.

"Knowin' that y'here for her," Maggie continues.

He hears something by the door at that moment too and he leaves the conversation exactly where it is to look and see Glenn pushing in an ambulance bed with a tray of food on it. He stares at the man with a frown and is about to stand until he sees the other Asian officer stepping in too. He hates the idea of anyone from this place other than his family or that doctor walking in. But he stays where he sits when the Asian officer walks out almost immediately after pushing the bed to the corner.

"Thanks man," he hears Glenn say to the officer.

"Not a problem," the officer says back to Glenn, "Need anything else just ask…"

"Will do," Glenn mutters and shakes the officer's hand as if everything was fine and dandy.

The officer leaves after that and Glenn turns to look at the two of them.

"Thought you might need a bed," Glenn tells him and he raises a brow.

"It was my idea," Maggie says a moment later and he turns to look at her.

"You always look really uncomfortable sleeping in that chair," Glenn continues, "And besides…Maggie and you get seats and I always get the floor…at least I'll get the bed when we're all in here."

He fights the urge to smile and instead just lets the corner of his lip curl.

"Crazy Asian," he mutters lowly under his breath and briefly sees both Glenn and Maggie smiling at him as he turns to look at Beth.

Maggie and Glenn leave not too long later with their empty plates and the tray and he resumes his quiet watch over her.

He lets the echoes of her heartbeat play a song in his head and with it he hears her voice; hears her singing and sees her sitting by that piano. He sees her fingers pressing down the keys and even hears each note in his head. He closes his eyes for a moment and he lets the music surround him.

But somewhere and somehow in the middle of his thoughts and his wonderings he feels a twitch and his eyes fly open. He looks to her face for any signs of her waking up but all he sees is her still and unmoving. Her heartbeat is still echoing away and he looks to her hand now. Her hand is completely still and he couldn't have imagine that at all. He was so sure that he felt it.

"Beth?" he murmurs and leans closer to the bed, "Beth?"

She continues to remain still and her eyes are still closed. He almost decides that the twitch he felt was purely his imagination but then he feels it again and his eyes fly to her face.

"Beth?" he mutters again, this time a little louder but she still continues to keep still.

He gives her hand a light squeeze and wonders momentarily if maybe she isn't able to open her eyes but is somehow aware of him being there. She doesn't squeeze back for the longest time and all he does is stare. But after a full minute passes he feels her return the squeeze. It's so brief and so light that he barely feels it. But it's there and it's real and she is responding.

"Beth," he says again and this time he leans onto the bed and is very close to the side of her face, "If y'can hear me squeeze my hand again."

And it takes a while but she squeezes his hand back and all at once something warm stirs in his heart.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm soooooo sorry it took me so long to update this. But it's here, finally. It only took me about 4 attempts before I could get this one out. **

**Before we get on with it I feel that I need to clarify one thing. One guest reviewer was confused about Beth's comatose state in Chapter 3 (they said that they thought she was already out of the coma at the end of Chapter 2). What happened in Chapter 2 is that Daryl had to decide whether or not to take her off the meds that keep her in the coma. There are two forms of comas (I'm not a doctor so any doctors reading this, correct me if I'm wrong) there's the coma that a person slips into all on their own or a medically induced coma. Beth is in a medically induced coma - hence why Daryl had to decide whether or not to take her off the meds. Apparently keeping patients in a medically induced coma for too long is not recommended unless really necessary. Given that they're in the middle of an apocalypse and the lack of medical facilities it's very difficult to determine whether they should keep her in the medically induced coma or not. **

**I hope that clears things up...**

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><p>She doesn't squeeze his hand anymore for the rest of that night and until morning where he finds himself sitting across from Rick. The man is telling him about their run and the supplies they gave to Grady and the supplies they've kept for themselves. He tries to listen; tries to be supportive and offer a few grunts and hums here and there. But he's thinking about her; he's always thinking about her these days.<p>

He spoke to Edwards earlier and told the man that she'd squeezed his hand but didn't really wake up. He asked what he should make of it and all the doctor had said was that it was a sign that she was getting better; that the part of her brain that controlled movement was well intact because of that. He thinks otherwise though; thinks that maybe she really did wake up but was far too weak to stay awake long enough to open her eyes.

"You still here with me, Daryl?"

He looks up from Beth to see Rick looking at him curiously, eyebrow raised and lip slightly curled at the side. He knows the man can read him like a book sometimes and it's a little unnerving but it doesn't bother him as much anymore. He clears his throat and shifts in his chair and pulls himself together. He lowers his gaze for a moment as if to collect his thoughts together before he looks back at Rick again but through his bangs this time.

"'m sorry," he barely murmurs, "Was thinkin' 'bout somethin'."

He sees Rick look to Beth and he tenses slightly and doesn't really know why because it isn't like Rick is going to hurt her. She's family. They don't hurt family. But he tenses anyway and lifts his arm from where it had been crossed over his chest, presses his elbow into the arm rest and slides a finger over his lips as he curiously watches Rick. He leaves his other arm on the other arm rest and curls his fingers around the bend.

"I said that we found a kid out there when we were on our run," Rick continues a moment later and turns to look at him again.

"Alone?" he asks softly.

"Yeah," Rick tells him in a low tone and he hears the sadness in the man's tone, "He said he had to put his father down…said his father told him too because he'd been bit."

He keeps silent and isn't so sure how he should feel. His priorities have been Beth all this time that he's sort of forgotten that the rest of the world exists. He worries extend to his family and that's really about it.

"He's just…" Rick starts and he looks away and looks down at Beth's still hand instead, "He's just five."

"Y'bring him here?" he asks quietly after a moment passes.

Rick nods and finally looks to him again, "It wasn't easy…Took a lot of convincing."

"Ain' surprised," he comments quietly, "Kid 'n his dad probably came across some shitheads out there."

Rick nods again and then he sees it; sees that look and knows exactly what Rick is about to say next.

"I ain' leavin' this room," he states simply in a matter of fact tone, "Not for nobody, Rick."

"I wasn't asking you too," Rick tells him and he sees the sincerity in the man's eyes; sees the understanding and strangely, the respect too.

"What do y'want me t'do?" he asks lowly a moment later.

"If he comes in here then just tell him to stay…that we ain' going to hurt him. We'll look after him…" Rick tells him and he nods.

"Just like that?"

That's when Rick keeps silent and just stares him and then he begins to wonder. Maybe this kid is like him somehow. Maybe the kid is all silent and few words and eyes always watching and observing. He isn't going to ask though because from the way Rick looks at him, he is quite sure that he is right. Rick looks away a moment later and starts to stand, mutters something about checking up on Judith and Carl.

"He got a name?" he asks just before Rick is at the door.

Rick turns back to look at him and he sees Rick's eyes drop for a moment to the ground before looking back to him. "His name is Daryl…"

He raises a brow and Rick just nods.

"Small world," is all Rick says before walking out.

He shakes his head at the coincidence of the whole thing and decides not to think much into it. The kid might not even decide to step in here anyway. He looks back to Beth now for a long and steady moment and just clears his mind and lets the sound of her heartbeat fill the space around him.

"Y'hear that, Beth," he murmurs and stretches to slide a hand into hers, "There's a kid here…got the same name as me."

He wakes sometime in the afternoon. 2:32pm from what the clock says. He stretches to stretch the strain away from his shoulder from the way he slept on that chair again. The bed Glenn rolled in here for him had been left forgotten at the corner of the room. He didn't want to be too far away from her and it wasn't like the seat was uncomfortable or anything. At least this way he could sleep and still hold onto her hand. He doesn't even blink an eye at the thought of that anymore. Holding her hand has become something quite normal for him and everyone didn't really look twice it anymore either.

But when he turns to look to the door he pauses and sees the little kid sitting there leaning against the frame and little legs drawn up and arms thrown around. The kid's asleep from what he can tell and for now he lets the kid sleep. He imagines the kid probably hasn't slept this well in a while. But what really gets him is how curious this kid looks; how familiar and how much the kid reminds him of himself when he was a boy. Maybe that's what Rick saw. Maybe that's why Rick told him to say those things because maybe if he said them, the kid would listen.

The kid's is all brown dirty greasy hair and little button nose, pink lips and short hair. It's nothing like the way his hair is right now but it's the same colour. The same colours and even the same sort of clothes. But they all look the same these days in their beige, green and black clothes. Everyone dresses to blend. Nobody dresses to stand out anymore.

He feels an ache in his chest for this kid and he doesn't know why but just like the way he feels for Beth, he feels as if he needs to protect this kid too. He shakes the feeling though because for all he knows this kid might just up and go and really the kid isn't his responsibility. The kid isn't even his. Just some stranger from out there.

He can't help but see red though when he thinks about the kid out there trying to survive. It's the same sort of red he sees when he even thinks about Beth being in harm.

He shakes his head again and turns to look at Beth. It calms him down for a while as he keeps his focus on her. He sees a lot more colour in her face today and he has a good feeling.

When he is sure that all his thoughts are collected and pulled together he decides to look at the door again. He sees Maggie standing in the hall and leaning against the wall. She's looking into the room but not looking at him; she's looking at the little kid, the little shoulder that's giving away the kid's spot on the floor there. He sees Rick standing there with her and Glenn and Carol too. They're all talking softly and a moment later Rick's looking at him. He nods as if to let them know that he knows; that he's okay with this for now.

He feels a slight pressure in his hand though and all thoughts about the kid flies from his head. He looks straight to Beth but her eyes are still shut and the only thing that's moving is her fingers, but barely.

"Beth," he murmurs and leans closer to the bed until he's practically kneeling beside her bed, "Beth, can y'hear me?"

He squeezes her hand back and it's barely there but he feels her squeeze back.

"Can y'open your eyes?" he asks and senses that the kid's woken up; that the kid's slowly standing up and staring at him.

She squeezes his hand again, this time more firm than she did before. And then he sees it, the fluttering of her eyelids that barely open long enough to see blue. But he sees them and he doubts that she saw him because all she did was look straight to the ceiling before closing her eyes again.

He looks frantically to the door and sees the kid standing now and staring at him. But he looks past the kid because he'll deal with that one later. He sees Maggie and everyone else rushing towards them. He catches Maggie's eyes and shouts, "Get the doc, now."

He looks back to Beth and she's squeezing his hand again. He sees her pressing her eyes shut as if some blinding pain is keeping her from opening her eyes. He feels as if he's taken a blow to the gut when he sees the creases in her forehead. He thinks about the pain she must be feeling and the confusion about this whole thing. He imagines there's a million questions running through her head and he knows she won't be able to voice any of it just now with that tube in her throat.

Y'alright, darlin'," he soothes and leans in to slide a palm onto the side of her face.

He sees the creases in her forehead relaxing, but only slightly from his touch.

"You're at Grady," he tells her as calmly as he manages just in time to hear Maggie rushing into the room.

"Beth," Maggie's muttering over and over again. He sees Maggie sliding a hand into Beth's other hand and holding it close and pressing it to her face, "Beth, its Maggie…I'm here."

He sees Beth's eyes flutter open again and he slides his hand away from her face. But as he does she turns very slightly to look at him. He sees her blue eyes staring at him and everything stills for him. Every sound Maggie makes and every echo of footsteps that rattle down the hall toward them. Everything just stops and all he sees is her staring at him as if she knows that it's him.

That she's aware that he is there.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So I decided to tackle this chapter from a different POV angle. I absolutely love writing from Daryl's POV because for some strange reason I can place myself exactly in his shoes and imagine everything he would think/say/do (at least I like to think that I do). But I decided for this chapter I would write in the kid's POV. I'm not sure if I pulled it off right. But anyway, rest assured, the rest of the story won't be told in this kid's POV. Just this one time and maybe another random one for a future chapter (I haven't decided yet). Also, I know, it's a little bit confusing because the kid is also named Daryl but I think it's quite fitting, don't you think?**

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><p>He hates this place and he doesn't want to be here.<p>

But he isn't ready to be alone right now. His daddy had only let go of him three days ago and for the longest time, all he knew was his daddy. Now his daddy was gone and he was alone. But not really. Rick said that he would be okay, that they'd look after him. He didn't really need to be looked after so maybe once he's ready he'll just leave. He knows none of them would trust him enough to let him walk out of here willingly because he's just a kid so he makes a note to have a look around.

Maybe if he does this smart and plans it right, just like his daddy taught him. Maybe he could get out of here. Just not right now. Maybe some other day.

Maggie let him walk around and he knew the instant he left that room that she was following him. He didn't want to be followed and again like his daddy taught him, he turned corners and slid into shadows until she ended up walking right past where he was hiding. He waited until all he could hear was the echoes of his name down the other end of the hallway before he crawled out and turned the corner the other way.

He'd look for her later on. It wasn't like he was leaving now anyway. Maggie seemed alright to him of all the people he had met. That was one thing his daddy told him as well. Always look out for the women, if they talk easy around the men then the men could be trusted. And Maggie seemed to be completely at ease with that Rick man and Glenn, Abraham, Tyrese and Carl. Tyrese seemed to be scary at first but as soon as he saw that little girl in Tyrese's arms then he knew that the man was okay. The little girl was squealing and giggling the entire time he stood there in that room when Rick introduced them all to him. Carl seemed okay too and maybe that was because Carl looked young but not as young as him. He still didn't quite know how to think about that Abraham man but he figured that if Maggie trusted Abraham then he could try too as well.

The rest of them were women and he made sure to watch them extra carefully. There was Michonne who looked a bit scary with that large blade on her back, but she smiled at him and the way she smiled was warm and it didn't seem threatening. Carol seemed almost like Maggie, very welcoming and smiling when she told him that she had a daughter that was a few years older than him. He wondered what happened to the woman's daughter but he didn't ask. Tara seemed cool like Glenn when she held her fist out to him and just said for him to pound it. He did. His daddy always did that too so he knew exactly what she meant. He learned that Sasha was Tyrese's sister and she was okay, quiet, but okay.

Rick told him that they had four others. Two of which were sick and the two others that were watching over them. He didn't know exactly what the man meant by that but he really didn't care right now.

He stops thinking about that when he almost turns a corner and bumps into a few men wearing black buttoned up shirts and pants. He slides into the shadows and he eyes them, watches as they walk past. He sees the pistols on their hips and he doesn't know why, but he doesn't trust those people as much as he does Rick and Rick's group. He eyes them and stays there until he is sure that they're gone and down the hall before he resumes his exploration again.

The place isn't very big and most of the areas are blocked anyway. He decides to head back to where Rick's group is. He might not trust them completely, but he sure does trust them a heck of a lot more than those men in those black clothes.

He turns the final corner and sees Maggie standing by the doorway to where Rick's group is at and hears her telling them that she's lost him. He just smirks and is about to walk back there when he happens to glance into that one room. He pauses when he looks in and when he hears the echoes of a steady beat. He's never heard anything like that before and he is curious. He takes a step toward the room and hovers by the doorway. He sees a woman in the bed with her head all bandaged up and eyes shut and chest rising and falling. He sees a man sleeping in the chair next to her bed. He wonders if they are two of the four that Rick was talking about.

He doesn't know why or how but he feels as if he needs to be in this room; as if there's a certain comfort in the sound of each echoing beat. He steps into the room quietly and looks to all those machines. There's one that looks like it's pumping something and another that is just a flat screen with lines all over it. He doesn't know what any of it says or what those lines even mean.

He feels sad all of a sudden when he looks to the man; sees the sadness in the man's face as the man sleeps. The man's hair looks so greasy and dirty and the woman looks so clean but really sick. He doesn't know why but he suddenly hopes that the woman will get better.

He leans against the frame of the door now and still stares at the man; not really knowing why but feeling as if he could trust these two. Like somehow or another being in this room with them felt right. He slides to the floor and curls his hands around his knees and then he remembers his daddy again. Remembers how his daddy got bit and remembers everything his daddy told him right before his daddy held that pistol and pulled the trigger and everything was quiet.

For the first time since then he thinks that maybe coming across Rick wasn't so bad after all.

###

He isn't sure when he falls asleep but somewhere between staring at those screens and that man and that woman he drifted. He wakes to the sounds of the man saying something and at first he is on alert and ready to bolt for being caught sleeping there. But when he opens his eyes he sees the man hovering over the woman, almost kneeling at her bedside and holding onto her hand. The man sounds exactly like how he sounded when he held onto his daddy's hand.

"Beth, can y'hear me?"

Her name must be Beth, he thinks. He makes a note of it and doesn't really know why he's making a note of it to begin with but he does anyway. He doesn't know what else to do so he pushes himself to stand and just stays there and watches.

"Can y'open your eyes?"

The man moves so frantically and he can tell from the way the man speaks to her that this man really cares for the woman. The man looks in his direction a moment later and he is almost thrown back from the intensity of the man's glare. But the man isn't looking at him; he doesn't even think the man sees him. The man just looked right out the door and then looks as if the man has seen someone.

"Get the doc, now."

He presses his back into the frame and he isn't sure why but he feels worried and he really just wants that woman to be okay. Maybe that man won't seem so sad then.

"Y'alright, darlin'," the man says to her again. It's so soft and so gentle and warm that it reminds him so much of when his daddy used to teach him all about surviving in this world.

He stares at that man again; watches as the man keeps staring at that woman as if staring is enough. He is so lost in his own thoughts of how much that man reminds him of his own father that he doesn't even notice Maggie rushing in.

"You're at Grady," the man says again.

"Beth," Maggie stutters and repeats so many times that he loses count after about 5, "Beth, its Maggie…I'm here."

And then he sees it on the man's face, that same feeling he used to get when he'd wake up to find his daddy still there and still breathing even with the bite mark. But this was different, his daddy was dying and the woman looks as if she's getting better. He knows he should be hoping for his daddy to be here and for that woman to take his daddy's place. But that look he sees on the man's face has him feeling like maybe this is okay. That maybe his daddy is better off now and maybe this woman should have the chance she deserves.

###

Everything after that seems to be a bit of a blur. Rick comes to get him, to slide him away from the door and away from that room when some guy in a white robe quickly walks in. Rick guides him back to the room where Carl and everyone else is at. Most of them were in the hallway though and most of them were staring into that room until Glenn closes the door.

He felt like crying right then; felt like fighting all of them to get back into that room where he feels like he belongs. But Rick's hold on his shoulder is firm but nothing that hurts. He looks up to Rick and the look he sees there tells him that whatever is going on in that room right now is nothing he should be seeing. And just like that, he understands.

He stays by the door though and sits there leaning against the frame so that he has the perfect angle to look at the closed door for any signs of it opening. It opens a little while after and he sees Glenn rush out. He catches a glimpse of the woman sitting up now but barely. The doctor's hovering next to the man and talking to her. She still looks like she's lying down with only her head propped up with a pillow. She's looking at the man and Maggie is there too. The woman is looking at the man and that look he sees on the man's face seems like a sight so rare.

"C'mon, kid," Abraham nudges on his shoe and he looks up to see the man eyeing him.

"What?" he asks and feels a little bit scared at how tall that man really is.

"You're right in the doorway," the man tells him, "I gotta climb over you?"

He shrugs his shoulder but then thinks the better of it and scrambles away into the room to let the man exit. He shifts back to his position against the frame and notices much to his dismay that the door is already closed. He frowns and glares after Abraham whose back is to him and is walking down the hall and disappearing into a different room.

He sees Carl sitting down on the opposite end of the doorframe from where he is. The older kid looks and then smiles and extends a hand out.

"I know we met earlier," Carl begins, "But thought I'd introduce myself anyway…The name is Carl."

He doesn't think much of shaking hands. His daddy never taught him much about it but his daddy did tell him to never accept an extended hand unless he felt like he could trust the person. His daddy told him that sometimes people might do that so that they could grab him. He didn't quite trust Carl all that much yet.

He shrugs and glances at that door again.

"You're Daryl… right?" Carl says again and retracts the hand.

"Yeah," he mutters.

"That man you saw in that room," Carl starts and he looks to Carl now, his interest suddenly perked, "His name is Daryl too."

He feels very strange now. "What about the woman?" he hears himself ask before he even realises what he's asked.

"Her name is Beth," Carl tells him, "She's Maggie's little sister."

"Did something happen to her head?" he asks softly, almost afraid that anything wrong he says could mean that she'd be really sick again.

"She was…" Carl starts again but stops and then pauses for a moment before continuing, "She was hurt, bad…"

"Oh…" he murmurs now, "She's going to be okay now, right?"

"Seems like it," Carl smiles at him.

"That's good," he says and again feels a little bit taken aback at how good he suddenly felt.

Maybe it wasn't so bad being here after all.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Oh man... work sucks but thank goodness for Bethyl! :) **

She says nothing for the longest time and it's not like she can with that tube stuck down her throat.

He stares at her and the doctor is blabbering a million things and Maggie's asking questions too. Glenn just hovers behind but he doesn't care about any of them right now. He stares as if his life depends on it and to a certain degree, it does because he's staring at Beth and really when he thinks about it now, his life is Beth. Maybe it wasn't all that easy for him to realise when she was in that coma. But staring at her now and seeing the life return to her stirs something warm in his soul; something that feels so damn right and real.

She starts to gag on reflex when Edwards pulls out that tube and she's hunching over but still mostly lying back. He sees her wince with each cough that sounds from her lungs and it feels like a blow to his gut every single time. If only he could take the pain; if only he could redirect every single pain she ever feels to himself instead. She doesn't deserve any of that. But there is nothing he can do now, nothing he can take away so instead he moves and grabs onto that towel. He doesn't even know when that towel appeared there on the bed across her but he grabs it away and thinks that perhaps Edwards brought it in earlier.

He lets her hand go and feels her fingers frantically searching around for the loss of contact and when she finds his arm again she calms. He slides a hand around the back of her head and carefully cradles her there and presses the towel to her mouth to wipe away her saliva. Her hand is grasping so tightly onto his arm; the one that's holding onto the towel and in any other circumstance he would've shaken it off. But it's Beth and there isn't a damn thing in this world he wouldn't do for her.

He knows that now.

Maggie's telling her to breathe in a soothing tone that even leaves him momentarily stunned. He's never heard Maggie being so calm about something before.

She's still wheezing with every breath she takes and she's holding his arm so dearly and so tightly in her grasp that he swears she's trying to fuse her hand to his arm. He pulls the towel back an inch away from her mouth and that's when she looks at him even while she continues to struggle to pull air into her lungs. Her eyes are so intense and yet so soft and warm as she looks at him as if her entire world is right there in his eyes.

And just like that as if his eyes somehow have the power to calm her, her breath grows soft and steady and she breathes normally a few moments later. She doesn't take her eyes off him; doesn't even look to Maggie when Maggie calls on her name so many times that he lost count after the tenth time. He leaves the towel draping across her chest and slides his hand down her hold until he clasps her hand in his again. She intertwines their fingers and it's strange to feel her do that when all he has felt all these weeks was the cold and still touch of her hand.

The doctor's shoulder bumps into his and that pulls him back to reality. The sounds and everything around him starts to move again.

"You're probably disoriented right now, Beth," Edwards tells her, but she keeps only looking at him, "And that's perfectly normal."

"I'll get her some water," Glenn announces and nobody cares to look or even acknowledge the man but they're all appreciative of the gesture anyway.

"You might hear a ringing in your ears and feel a sharp pain in your head," Edwards continues and finally she looks away but only for a brief moment before she looks back to him, "But that's normal too from the injury you've sustained."

"Bethy," Maggie urges, "Say something."

"She won't be able too," Edward tells Maggie, "At least not right now. She hasn't spoken in almost three weeks and her throat is feeling air for the first time since."

"Oh…" Maggie murmurs, the disappointment in her tone is loud and clear.

"The water will help though," Edwards continues and takes a step back from the bed now, "Just give her some time."

"She remember us?" he asks quietly and as soon as the question leaves his mouth he feels her squeeze his hand.

"Just give her time," Edwards says again but the look he sees in her eyes tells him that she recognises him, "I'll be back later."

The doctor leaves the room after that and all the while she still continues to look at him.

"Beth," her name comes out in a whisper and he knows that Maggie is right there; knows that Maggie's probably staring at him now.

But he doesn't care and it doesn't matter. Beth matters.

"'m here," he murmurs, "You're okay."

"Bethy," Maggie says now very quietly but enough for Beth to finally look away from him. He sees her eyes widen when she sees Maggie as if she finally realises that Maggie was in the room all this time.

The door swings open and he looks to it as Maggie murmurs a million other things to Beth. He keeps his hold on her hand though and it isn't like he really has a choice from the way she so tightly clings onto his hand. He sees Glenn walking in with a bottle in hand and a cup that looks to have been freshly washed.

The rest of the afternoon is a blur to him.

#####

Maggie leaves the room just after sunset to get them all something to eat and Glenn leaves with her too as if sensing that he needs some time with Beth. She still hasn't spoken; still hasn't murmured a single word since she woke up earlier. But she drank some of the water Glenn brought and even smiled a little for Maggie and then some more for him too. He isn't worried about her not knowing them anymore. Isn't concerned that she might only remember him and no one else because she clearly seems as if she remembers all of them.

She runs her thumb over the back of his hand now and it pulls him from his thoughts. He looks to her from the spot on the wall he had been staring at.

"Y'want some more water?" he asks softly.

She barely shakes her head but he sees the movement and leans forward in his chair. He sees her swallow and sees her draw in a breath as if she's bracing to say something.

"'s okay, y'gotta rest y'voice," he tells her and leans forward even more so that he kneels now beside her bed again, "We got time."

He feels her tug on his hand though and then he sees her lips part and sees her draw in a breath again. He barely hears her whisper, "Da-ryl."

He hears so many things in his name that she barely whispers. _'Are you okay? Are you alright? Are you really here? Am I going to be okay? Is everyone alive?'_

"Y'gonna be fine," he tells her even though he knows the road to recovery was still going to be a long one for her, "'m gonna here the whole way."

She tugs on his hand again.

"'m fine too," he continues softly.

She squeezes his hand as if not satisfied with his short reassurance of how he is currently doing. He looks at her for a good long moment as if trying to find the right words to tell her that he really is okay now that she is awake. But he decides instead that maybe he ought to be honest for a change. She could always see straight through him anyway.

"'m a little tired," he tells her and he sees the corner of her lip curl as if she already knew that, "But 'm okay now."

Her eyes shift to look at the ceiling as if she's content about his response and just needs to look away to gather her thoughts for a moment. He continues to look at her though; continues to commit to memory every curve of her face and her lips and her nose. He practically soars again at the thought that she really is awake. That she's breathing on her own and thinking and most importantly she remembers. The wound to her head didn't take that away from her.

She looks back to him and it catches him off guard but under her stare he finds himself calming anyway. She has that strange ability to do that to him; to wipe away all his worries with a single look or a touch or just being here in the same room with him. He sees her blinking sleepily though but he sees the question in her eyes.

"Ain' goin' nowhere," he tells her and even lets the corner of his lip curl, "Be right here when y'wake up…"

He's never sat beside someone like this for so long before and though it's still strange and very unlike him to do so he can't help but feel perfectly at home sitting here with her now. He sees that she feels the warmth in his tone; sees from the way her eyes soften too and warm as if she knows that he has changed. That he doesn't sit beside anyone unless a greater part of him really wanted too. She barely nods a moment later again and then finally she stares for a good long while until she seems to find the answer in his eyes to whatever question she couldn't ask. She settles then with eyes barely in a line and still staring at him. He sees the corner of her lip curl and sees her face all light up when he lets himself smile too. For her.

He feels her brush the back of his hand with her thumb again and soon after that she finally closes her eyes. She continues to brush the back of his hand with her thumb for a while more until eventually her breathing evens and she falls asleep.

He stares at her for a long time after that and wonders for a brief moment just how he ended up here. There are so many things between them; so many conversations they haven't had but he feels as if they've already had them all. He doesn't get quite the chance to follow that train of thought though when the door swings open.

He looks to it, expecting to see Maggie walking in but all he sees is that little kid standing there and staring at him. The kid he notices is all blue eyes and all serious, quiet, observing and very much like the little boy he once was. He feels almost compelled to pinch himself just to make sure he wasn't seeing his own five year old self in the past.

"Y'can come in, if y'want," he murmurs.

The gentleness in his tone surprises him for a moment. He can't remember a time when he felt comfortable enough to deal with a kid he barely knew. But he strangely feels as if he understands this kid; understands where the kid comes from and what the kid thinks and sees. The kid hovers there for a moment more before nodding and stepping in and gently and quietly shutting the door before turning around to look at him again.

"Is she…" the kid pauses and looks to Beth now and then back at him, "Is she gonna be okay?"

He nods and says, "Yeah, she's gonna be fine."

He sees the kid's stance sag with relief and he finds it a little strange that the kid feels that for Beth; for a complete stranger. But he does not comment and instead decides to continue looking at the boy. The kid shifts uncomfortably under his gaze and he sees the kid tensing up all over again and shifting awkwardly as if wanting to ask another question. He keeps silent and lets the echoes of Beth's heartbeats fill the room. He knows that asking the kid will only drive the kid away. He knows that because that was how he was when he was a boy. So instead he patiently waits until the kid finally finds the courage to speak again.

"Can I…" the kid looks to the ground and shifts uncomfortably before looking at him again, "Can I stay here…for a while?"

"Stay as long as y'want, kid."

The kid seems harmless to him and he doesn't know why but he feels the urge to keep this kid safe too. If he wasn't so sure of himself he'd even think that he'd happily place this kid's safety right there beside Beth's. But he barely even knows this kid, other than that the kid shares the same name as him.

"Y'have a name?" he asks even though he already knows.

"Daryl," the kid tells him.

"Guess we have that in common," he comments.

"Carl told me," the kid continues softly.

"Y'have a last name?" he asks again and then decides to offer, "Mine's Dixon."

"Jackson," the kid answers a second later.

"Y'thinkin' of stickin' around?" he asks gently because he knows the exact tone to use for a kid like that; knows exactly what used to piss him off when he was a boy and what didn't.

"For a while," the kid murmurs.

He nods and lets the silence fall back into place around them. He turns his eyes back to Beth but watches the kid curiously from the side of his eye. The kid just stands there by the door; doesn't even lean against it or anything. He sighs after another moment passes when the kid says nothing at all but just continues staring at him and occasionally at Beth.

"Maybe y'should stay," he mutters softly.

The kid shifts uncomfortably now and he notices how the kid tenses and turns to leave.

"Not forever," he adds and the kid noticeably calms and pauses with a hand on the handle of the door, "Just…for a while," he pauses and glances at Beth, "I think Beth would like t'meet you is all."

The kid turns back to look at him and the look he sees in the kid's eyes holds him right there. It's almost like a slap to the face; the intensity and fear and sudden realisation that he is really just looking at a five year old boy who had just lost his father. A boy that had to grow up in the past few days more than any kid in the world he grew up in. A boy that didn't have any family left in this world. A boy that was so desperately trying to find a place to belong and be a kid again. A boy that was very much still a baby with no family. No one.

"You don' gotta go," he murmurs gently again and glances at Maggie's empty seat, "'m sure Maggie won' mind if y'sit there."

The kid just continues to stare at him as if uncertain of what to really do in this moment.

"'sides," he reasons, "I don' mind the company."

He can practically hear the cogs turning in the kid's head; hear the thoughts echoing and the questions and uncertainties and the million reasons why the kid wants to bolt from this place. But then something settles on the kid's face; an expression that is lined with fear and filled with this strange feeling of wanting to be here in this room. He wonders if the calmness he feels around Beth is somewhat rubbing off on the kid too.

"Okay," the kid eventually murmurs and quietly nears the seat and slides into it ever so softly.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: :) Thanks for all of your lovely reviews so far.**

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><p>When she wakes up it's all early and just before sunrise. The cool air is all around her and so is the sounds of her echoing heartbeat; strange, she thought Edwards didn't like to waste resources on patients. Maybe she was worth it after all. But she doesn't want to think about that for now; doesn't even want to remember what she did to Dawn or that she's still in the same place she was held prisoner in.<p>

A sharp pain shoots up her spine and right into her head and in the middle of her eyes and instantly she squeezes her eyes together and winces. She squeezes a hand she didn't even know she was holding and an instant later she hears someone shifting.

"Y'okay, Beth?"

That voice is so familiar that despite the pain she opens her eyes again and looks as if she needs to see him to confirm that he really is there. He looks exactly like how she remembers and he is close to her bed. She feels both his calloused hands circling her own and his touch is so warm and so comforting and so calm. She stares as if she's seen a ghost and she briefly wonders if maybe she's dead; wonders if this is heaven. Maybe she's even dreaming.

But his blue eyes are so intense and they are so him that she cannot be dreaming. This cannot be heaven either because she couldn't possibly make it in there. She wasn't worthy of that light and that peace and after everything she has seen and gone through she doubts that heaven even exists.

"Beth," he says her name again and the way he says it almost wipes away the pain. It becomes nothing but a dull ache and murmur at the back of her mind as she drinks him in.

She draws in a breath and she wants to say something; wants to say his name and ask him if he is real. But her throat is still so sore and she wonders if maybe the sight of him has driven away her voice.

"Water?" he asks and she finds herself nodding.

He shifts again but keeps a hand still holding onto hers as he reaches with the other for the cup on the side table. He lifts it to her lips and she still stares at him; at his greasy hair and blue eyes and expression that she has never seen on his face before. He looks softer and kinder and warmer. She wonders briefly what he is even doing here and how he hasn't run away yet. But he helps her to drink as if he's done this a million times already; as if some part of him really does genuinely want to be here to help her.

The water is cool as it runs down her dry throat and though it feels so soothing and relieving it can't quite measure up to how she feels about him actually being here. She wants to ask him how; wants to ask him if everyone else is somehow here. She vaguely remembers having looked at Maggie. But everything was so blurry and her memories were all so fuzzy.

He lowers the cup from her lips when she dips her head back and he settles it on the table again and looks to her.

"That better?" he asks.

She nods and draws in a steady breath again but stops when she feels him squeezing her hand.

"Should rest y'voice, darlin'," he murmurs and it only takes him a second to realise what he has called her. But he doesn't comment on it or even retract it back or say anything at all. He just stares at her and in his eyes she sees that he is uncertain and unsure; that he doesn't even know what to say to her or whether he should apologize.

"Daryl," she barely manages but she whispers his name anyway.

She sees his eyes considerably warm at the sound of his name and she wonders since when she had that effect on him.

"Do y'remember?" he asks and it takes her a full moment to realise what he is asking.

"Yes," she murmurs and then pauses to pull the air back into her deprived lungs. "R'member…" she pauses to draw in another breath, "You 'n…" she pauses again to draw in another breath, "Everything else."

He nods and he looks so strangely relieved. She can't help but wonder if it's because she said that she remembers him or if it's because she remembers everything or whether it's both. But just like that his eyes look at her all intensely and worried again.

"Y'shouldn't talk so much," he tells her softly, "Gotta rest y'voice 'n all that."

She shakes her head stubbornly at him though because though a part of her wants to just lay her head back and rest she can't help but want to know what happened. Is he okay? Has he been sleeping? Has he been here this whole time?

"Tell…me," she breathes and squeezes his hand, "Everythin'."

"There's a lot t'tell, Beth," he starts and his look changes again to something serious and something dark.

She shakes her head at him but not too much because the movement really hurts. "No," she breathes and draws in another breath and murmurs, "Tell…me…'bout you…y'okay?"

And just like that the darkness she saw in his eyes moments ago vanishes and in its place she sees something much lighter; something that's very warm and very un-Daryl like. She can't help but feel as if she wants to see that in his eyes every time she looks at him from now on.

"Y'the one in the bed 'n y'askin' if 'm okay?" he asks as if he needs to clarify that she's actually asking what she's asking.

She can't for the life of her understand why he doubts himself so much like that. But she lets it slide and nods her head.

He looks as if he's going to brush her off with a grunt or a snort or maybe even stand and walk away. But then she sees something shift in his eyes and she feels his hand tense.

"Been better," he finally murmurs and his honesty takes her by surprise, "'s long as y'don' go stabbin' people with scissors no more…less y'tell me before hand."

"Sorry," she whispers even though her throat is quite dry again.

"Ain' gotta apologize," he tells her gently, "Bitch got what she deserved."

She smiles and much to her surprise again she sees the corner of his lip curl. She sees the ghost of a real genuine smile lingering for a moment more before he looks away and she swears he looks all shy and bashful. He looks to her hand, the one that's now intertwined with his fingers and feeling very much at home between his calloused hands.

She looks away from him when the silence begins to settle around them again. She can't help but feel a flutter of warmth in her chest when she starts to feel him brushing the back of her hand with his thumb. She closes her eyes now and lets the feeling of his thumb sway her as if he's keeping the beat of a song they both hear. He draws a breath a short while later and she listens, like she always does.

"Got somethin' t'tell you," he starts and she wonders if he knows that she isn't sleeping, "Know y'ain' asleep either…so just listen, yeah?"

She feels herself smiling again as she flutters her eyes open and looks to him. He's staring at her through his bangs and the intensity in his eyes reminds her of that night in that kitchen so long ago now. But there's something new in his look this time; something that's so raw and so real and so Daryl, that it wipes away the smile from her face. All she does is stare now and all she does is listen.

"Was wrong t'say I wasn't 'fraid of nothin'," he tells her, "Been 'fraid since 'em walkers started walkin'."

He pauses and looks down at their hands again. She wonders where this is coming from; wonders how he's managed to say more words to her in this moment than he ever has in the entire time she's known him. She would tell him it was okay, that he didn't have to tell her all now. That he had all the time in the world because for him she felt as if she could wait that long. But her throat is all dry and coarse and she really can't bring herself to talk right now. She isn't about to interrupt him to help her drink some water either so she settles instead with squeezing his hand lightly as if to let him know that she's listening.

"I ain' been scared though," he starts again and his voice sounds smaller as he continues to stare at their hands, "Should'a said that instead…" he adds as if an afterthought and then he looks back to her, "'n it would'a been right…until now."

She knows what he is trying to say and the thought of it leaves something really warm stirring in her chest again. She stares at him and takes in the intensity of his look; as if somehow that look alone is meant for her.

"I don' really know what 'm doin', Beth," he murmurs a moment later and looks to their hands again as if he's afraid of looking at her, "Ain' so sure why 'm even here…"

"Daryl," she whispers and her voice cracks but she doesn't care right now. He looks up at her though when he hears the hoarseness in her tone. But he doesn't move to get her water; he just stares as if her eyes have the ability to keep him still.

There are so many things she wants to say to him; so many questions and things she wants to figure out, like why she feels so warm and why is he looking at her like that. But she thinks that maybe for now they don't need words. That it's somehow better this way because this is Daryl and she is Beth, and they didn't need to talk to get things done. They just were, like they had been when they got out of the prison together all that time ago.

She slides her hand from his hold and she doesn't give him a chance to wonder why when she slides it over his ear and into his hair. She presses her hand into the back of his head and she pulls him and he moves with the slight pressure she applies. And just like that he ends up with his forehead against her side and her hand in his hair.

He breathes a sigh of relief as if this was what he had been wanting to do for the longest time. She makes no comment about it. She just holds him there and closes her eyes too.

She doesn't know how long they stay that way but it feels as if years pass and decades roll on by. Whatever between them has changed so much in the time they've been apart that she is left feeling more confused than she ever has with him before. She felt something when he looked at her like that in the kitchen all that time ago. But before she could even wonder about it or ask him or figure it out, she was taken. He is here though and feeling warmer than he has ever felt with his forehead pressing into her side. She doesn't know why but she feels as if she always wants him to be close like this from now on.

And with that thought in mind she drifts and falls asleep.

#####

She awakes much later to absolute silence and of something warm still pressing into her side. It takes her a moment to realise that he's actually still in that position and seemingly fast asleep now. She peers down at him and finds that her hand had somehow slid from the back of his head to the nape of his neck. She could feel the soft tuffs of hair there and it feels so strange but yet so right to be touching him there. She feels as if she's felt this all before.

But something moves at the corner of her eye and when she looks to her left, she sees Maggie sitting there and looking very smugly at her.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: ****Wow... I'm blown away by the amount of kudo's I've received for this so far. Also, I'm really sorry about the super delayed update. I blame work :(**

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><p>Everything is warm and everything feels so right when he starts to stir to the sounds of a metal spoon clinking against a bowl. He does not move though and decides to stay exactly where he is with head pressing into something really warm and something very comfortable. He tries to get his bearings and usually he only does when he abruptly pushes away from whatever he is sleeping on. But this is far too perfect for him to even want to push away from just now.<p>

He stays instead exactly where he is and he hears her heartbeat and suddenly is aware of fingers running rhythmically over his scalp and through his hair. He recognises the scent he smells and it belongs to her and he wonders briefly how he got here. But then he remembers earlier when she had woken up and they had talked and she had curled a hand around the back of his head and guided him to her side, just like that.

This feels so intimate though and so unlike them; so unlike her. But her warmth stirs something strange in his gut and her fingers almost lull him back to sleep. Dixon's didn't do feelings though, he reminds himself. But maybe he was an exception to that rule. Maybe something in him was different because right now he sure did feel something strange and something so very right.

He wants to move; wants to let her know that she doesn't have to do that. That she can stop and why is she even giving him the light of day and wasting her ministrations on him. But her fingers keep him there and he finds that even if he wanted too, he couldn't move away from her. She keeps him there and feelings and all that shit aside he can't bring himself to want to be anywhere else.

He hears someone laying the bowl down on the table and hears someone shift. He hears her swallowing water and her fingers still in his hair for just a moment before they resume. She does that as if she's done this all their lives already; as if they were more than just family. As if something between them was so old and always somehow there even before they knew each other.

"Would be better with a straw," he hears her murmur and her voice sounds a lot better than it did earlier.

"I'll have t'see if I can find one later," Maggie comments a second later.

A lazy silence falls into place before it's broken again by Beth's soft voice, "Who did we lose?"

"He didn' tell you?"

"No," she breathes, "I was worried…'bout him." She still pauses between words but she isn't whispering anymore.

"Bethy, you were shot in the head but yet y'were worryin' 'bout how he was doin'?" Maggie asks and that's where he decides to make his presence known. He respects Beth too much to pretend to be asleep just so that he could listen to what she has to say. He imagines she would let him know eventually at some point if she wanted too.

He draws a deeper breath and shifts his head slightly and pushes slightly from the bed. He feels her hand sliding from where it was to fall onto the bed again and he catches a brief look of her before he pushes himself to sit. Her eyes are all warm and soft when she looks at him. He grumbles something unintelligible but she smiles anyway and Maggie just smirks at him.

"Sleep well, sleepin' beauty?" Maggie asks and he resists the urge to flip her off.

"Fine," he grumbles and offers a moment to look at Beth and offer her a lighter greeting, "Sorry…didn' mean t'fall asleep."

"'s okay," she tells him with a warm smile, "I…slept too."

He nods and looks away and sees the empty bowl sitting on the other side table.

"I would've gotten you a bowl," Maggie starts and he looks to her, "But y'were seriously out of it."

He grunts and pulls himself to a stand and stretches while in the process of standing up completely. He decides to step out of the room for a bit and offer the two sisters some privacy. He hasn't left the room since they got here and he wasn't going to go far anyway. From what Maggie had told him a few days ago, the kitchen should only be down the hall.

"'ma get somethin' t'eat," he murmurs more so to Beth than Maggie.

"Find a straw for her," Maggie tells him and he nods.

"Want anythin'?" he asks Beth and she looks to ponder over it for a moment before barely shaking her head to let him know she didn't want anything.

He grabs his crossbow and slings it across his back and steps out of her room. As soon as he does he instantly feels like giving up the idea of getting food and returning back to her room. But he presses on anyway because he trusts Maggie enough to keep Beth safe while he finds some food. He looks down the longest hall to the closed doors and sees Michonne lingering out there in the hall. He gives the woman a wave and decides to spend a few minutes catching up with her so that he has a better idea of this place before he goes exploring.

"You're looking well," Michonne comments and he raises a brow but lets the comment slide.

"Everyone okay?" he asks and she nods.

"I think that kid is looking for you," she tells him.

"Daryl?" he asks.

"Should find out if he has a nickname," she notes, "It's going to get confusing."

He shrugs and motions to the room behind her, "He in there?"

Michonne shakes her head and tells him, "Went exploring."

He already knows what the woman isn't going to say and he isn't going to comment on it just now.

"Rick wants to meet later in Beth's room," Michonne notes when he looks into the room to see the rest of their family asleep save for Carol and Tyrese in the far corner.

Tyrese seems to be trying to nurse a gurgling Judith and Carol's holding onto a bib and a bottle.

"Don' think she's up for that just yet," he grumbles.

"Take it up with him," she tells him simply, "I'm just the messenger."

He'd speak to Rick now if it wasn't for the light snoring he hears.

"I'll talk t'him later," he tells her and proceeds to look down the hall again, "Know where the kitchen is?"

"Go back the way you came and when you get to Beth's room just turn left and keep walking, you'll see it eventually," she tells him and he nods.

"Thanks," he grunts and turns to take his leave.

He catches Beth's eye when he nears her door and she smiles at him again all warm and soft. He gives her a little nod before he turns the corner and walks down that hall.

"You little shit," he hears a grumble from down the hall and immediately sees the kid running out from one of the rooms, "Hey! Get back here!"

He draws his crossbow faster than he realises. He stares down the length of it but lowers instantly when he sees the kid rushing out. He frowns though when the kid finally sees him and starts rushing over to him. He is just about to ask when he sees one of those men dressed as cops rushing out the door with gun drawn and eyes flaring. He doesn't even think twice. He just shoves the kid behind him with one hand and immediately returns it to his crossbow.

"'s goin' on?" he demands with his crossbow low but ready to aim and release if needed.

The cop stops in mid rush and lowers the gun but still leaves a finger on the trigger.

"That little shit was snooping in my stuff," the cop tells him and points at the kid behind him.

He looks to the side for a second and asks, "Y'snooped around his shit?"

"Just wanted t'have a look…" the kid tells him quietly.

"Did he steal anythin'?" he asks the cop this time.

The cop looks momentarily at a loss of words and eventually stumbles across a, "No…he didn't. But he was snooping."

"Ain' right to snoop, kid," he mutters lowly to the kid behind him before he looks back to the cop, "Don' want no trouble."

"Well you best keep that little shit away from my room from now on," the cop grumbles and he frowns at the man's attitude but doesn't comment.

He watches until the cop disappears into the room again and shuts the door before he lowers his crossbow completely.

"He had a bag of grenades," the kid tells him softly and he looks to his left and to the kid.

He is tossed between telling the kid not to snoop and asking what else the kid saw. He decides on the latter just this one time.

"Anythin' else?" he asks and notes how the kid looks momentarily surprised at his reaction. Maybe the kid was expecting to give him a beating or something.

He thinks about his old man all of a sudden and it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. He pushes the thought away though and decides to focus on stringing the crossbow around his shoulders again.

"Some other weapons," the kid continues lowly.

He nods and turns to look down the hall and then back at the kid and then finally decides to continue looking for that damn kitchen. The kid falls into step beside him and he watches curiously for a bit as the damn kid skips several steps just to try and match his stride.

"Y'daddy teach y'how to snoop?" he asks casually.

"Yeah," the kid answers.

"He ain' done right then," he mutters.

"But my dad-"

"The point is not t'get caught," he notes and the kid levels a look with him. He just presses his lips together and levels his look with the kid for a second longer before he looks back in front of him and to where he is going.

"What y'lookin' for?" the kid asks finally after a moment's pause.

"The kitchen," he answers and looks down each open door they walk past.

"It's this way," the kid sighs and nudges at his elbow. He follows the direction which the kid is pointing at and he sees two silver doors.

"Beth needs a straw," he continues.

The kid nods and he swears the kid looks all serious and determined all of a sudden.

They walk for a minute or two more and he lets the kid take the lead. Maybe he's lost it completely but he's never let a kid lead before. Okay maybe he did let Carl lead once or twice but that was only because Carl was coming of age. This boy was barely even ten but yet he felt as if he's known this kid all this kid's life.

"Will y'teach me?" the kid asks and when the kid looks at him it takes him by surprise. He sees the intensity in the kid's look and sees the trust and the strange look of understanding.

"Teach y'what?" he asks.

The kid pauses to push the doors open and when he sees the familiar sight of the silver coloured tables and stoves he looks to the right and sees the stacked cans of food.

"How to snoop," the kid says softly and he considers the request and says nothing in response for a while.

He keeps silent for a while as they make their way to the canned food. He sees one of the cops dishing out food onto a plate and he nods in greeting to the man.

"Hey man," he starts, "Y'got any straws?"

"Sure do," the cop nods, "Got a box in the cupboard."

"Thanks," he nods and turns to make his way to the cupboard.

The kid follows close behind and he waits until he's found the box of straws in the cupboard. He grabs a few and he hands them to the kid.

"Hold these," he tells the kid, "Gonna get some food. Y'eaten yet?"

"Not hungry," the kid mutters lowly.

"Tell y'what," he starts and the kid looks at him curiously, "Y'promise t'stick around…ain' sayin' forever but a while 'n I'll teach you."

He offers because he doesn't exactly want this kid up and leaving anytime soon. He doesn't like the idea of this kid being in danger. Maybe that makes him soft and maybe his brother was right about him having this desire to help people. But helping people has brought him here; helping people has brought him to a bunch of people he now calls family. Helping people brought him to Beth.

The kid looks to consider it and he leaves the kid to think while he makes his way back to where the food is at. He grabs himself a plate and as he dishes each dish onto each divided part of his plate he catches a glance at the kid. He is almost done with the last dish when he sees the kid finally make a reach for a plate. He thinks to offer to grab the straws from the kid when the kid finally turns to look at him.

"Okay," the kid tells him, "I'll stay."

He nods and even smiles a little just for the kid. "Y'got a nickname?"

The kid looks at him curiously for a long moment before finally saying, "My pa used t'call me Jackson."

"Alright if I call y'that?" he asks softly.

"Yeah, that's cool."


End file.
